Improvement in sewing-machines



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Sewing Machine. No. 56,646. Patented July 24, 1866,

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- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. A. WARTH.

Sewing Machine.

Patented July 24, 1866.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEQ ALBIN WARTH, OF STAPLETDN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT lN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56.64 6, dated July 24,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBIN WARTH, of Stapleton, in the county of Richmondand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement inSewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 represents a plan or top view of this invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a sectionalfront elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the same,the line 00 00, Fig. 2, indicating the plane of section. Fig. 5 is adetached plan or top view of the chainstitch attachment. The remainingfigures are details, which will be referred to in the proper places asthe description progresses.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention relates particularly to certain improvements in thatclass of sewingmachines known as the Wheeler 82; Wilson machines.

The invention consists, first, in the arrangement of a friction-springin combination with the vibrating needle-arm in such a manner that saidneedle-arm is prevented from changing its position spontaneously duringthe time it is relieved from the action of the inclined plane or planes;second, in the arrangement of a set-screw or other suitable fastening incombination with the oscillating needle-arm in such a manner that bysaid set-screw or other fastening the vibrating motion of the needle-armcan be arrested at any desired momen t, and the machine can be used likean ordinary sewing-maohine of the same class third, in the arrangementof a lip extending from the needle-holder close down on the back of theneedlein such a manner that the needle is stren gthened in its positionand the required feed-mo tion can be produced with a comparatively weakneedle; fourth, in the application of a guard to the top edge of thebobbin-holder in such a manner that the loops, on passing off from therevolving heck, are prevented from jumping up and being caught again bysaid hook,

I which, when not avoided, is liable to cause a serious interruption ofthe operation of sewing; fifth, in the arrangement of a friction-brushor other equivalent friction device in combination with the bobbin andbobbin-holder in such a manner that when the motion of the rotatin ghook is suddenly stopped (which happens, for instance, if the needlestrikes a very thick seam and the driving-belt slips, or from othercauses) the bobbin is prevented from flying round by the reaction, andthe disturbance created by this motion is avoided 5 sixth, insubstituting for the ordinary feeding-bar a mechanism for forming achain-stitch, and which operates under the cloth-plate and incombination with the self-feeding needle in such a manner that by aslight change in the mechanism the chain stitch mechanism can be thrownin or out of gear, and the machine serves to make the chain or the lockstitch, at the option of the operator; seventh, in the arrangement of aprotector provided with a pocket or cap to receive the point of therevolving hook, and applied, in combination with said hook, in such amanner that it protects the hook and-prevents it from catching in theloop of the needle-thread, and that it does not interfere with theoperation of the chain-stitch mechanism; eighth, in the arrangement of aside-surface cam, in combination with a suitable spring and with theslide which carries the chain-stitch mechanism and with a movable stop,in such a manner that when the stop is thrown back or out of gear withthe slide the cam imparts to said slide a reciprocating motion; but ifthe movable stop is thrown in, so as to retain the chain-stitch slide,the shaft on which the cam is mounted revolves without obstruction.

A represents the bed of my machine, from which rise four standards, a, ab 0, two of which support the cloth-plate B, whereas the other two formthe bearings for the center points of the rock-shaft G, which carriesthe needle-arm D, and one of these last-named standards also supportsthe arm E, the front end of which forms the socket for the stem of thepresserfoot F.

An oscillating motion is imparted to the rock-shaft O by the action ofan eccentric, d, on the driving-shaft e, which connects with saidrock-shaft by means of a rod, f, and arm in the usual manner. From saidrock-shaft rises the arm D, to the end of which the needle nis secured;but this arm, instead of being rigidly connected to the rock-shaft, isprovided with a shank, h, (see Fig. 2,) which extends through a socketin said rock-shaft, so as to form a tappet, i, which, by coming incontact with the inclined planesj 76, imparts to the needle-arm thedesired vibrating motion, thus allowing to the needle-arm an independentlateral vibrating motion in a plane at right angles to its usualup-and-down motion.

The inclined planesj 7c are best seen in Fig. 4. 0f the drawings. Theyare made of leather or other suitable material, and secured to astandard, H, which rises from the bed of the machine. The inclined planej is heldin place by a set-screw, l, and if the same is made of leatheror other flexible material it may be strengthened or stiffened bysecuring to its back a thin plate of steel or othersuitablc ma terial.The inclined plane is is formed by the edge of a thick strip of leatheror other suitabie material, which is secured in a suitable the vibratingmotionthus imparted to the nee dle-arm and to the needle the desiredfeedmotion of the fabric to be sewed is produced, and this feed-motionis regulated by an adjustable pad, m, which .is secured in the standardH, under the inclined plane j, and which is set in or out by set-screws0. Another pad,

1), which is secured to a lip rising in front of the inclined plane It,prevents the tappet i moving any farther than desirable, as the samestrikes said inclined plane. The pads in and p, as well as the inclinedplanesj 7c, are made, by preference, of leather, to render them yieldingand prevent unnecessary wear of the tappet i.

A friction-spring, g, which is applied to the shank h of the needle-arm,and which acts on the under side of the rock-shaft, detains saidneedle-arm in any position in which it may be brought, and prevents itfrom moving spontaneously when the tappet is not in contact with eitherof the inclined planes. A setscrew, 1*, allows of regulating the tensionof this friction-spring, and by means of this setscrew thefriction-spring and also the needlearm can be made rigid with therock-shaft when it is desired to use my machine with an ordinary feedingdevice.

The needle n is secured to the needle-arm by a clamping-screw of theordinary construction; but from the head of said screw projects a lip,8, close down on the back of the needle, so as to strengthen the sameand produce the desired feed-motion without being liable to bend. Anadjustable spring-pad, t, which is applied to the needle-arm andsubjected to the action of a spring, a, may be used to assist the needlein producing the requisite feed-motion. When not in action thisspring-pad is raised by a button, 0, which, when turned, bears on theunder side of the spring a.

The stitch of my sewing-machine is produced by the combined action ofthe needle a and of the revolving hook I. The needlethread is taken fromthe spool J and passed over the tension-regulator, which is composed ofa thread-guide, a, and indi'a-rubber roller 1), which is placed looselyon a pin, 0, between two flanges, one of which is movable 0n the pin andsubjected to the action of a nut, (1, whereby the roller can becompressed between the two flanges and the power required to revolve iton its pin can be adjusted. The thread-guide a is constructed of a pieceof sheet metal with two flanges or lips which are situated on oppositesides of the roller 1), and which are provided with slots, through whichthe thread passes. In its course through the tension-regulator thethread is wound two or more times round the roller 1), so that by theaction of the thread said roller is compelled to revolve, and at thesame time the thread is prevented from slipping or gliding over theroller. By turning the nut 01 the tension of the thread can be increasedor decreased at pleasure.

The lower thread is taken from the bobbin K, which is held in the cavityof the revolving hook I by the annular bobbin-holderlVI iu the usualmanner.

In order to preventthe bobbin from being rotated in the wrong directionif the machine is turned wrong, or from flying round by the reaction ofits thread if the machine is suddenly stopped or if the belt slips, Ihave applied a friction-brush or other friction device, 0, which issecured to the bed of the machine by the same screw, f, which also holdsthe bobbin-holder in its place. To the upper edge of the bobbin-holder Ihave secured a guard, g, Which projects up close under the clothplate B.The object of this guard is to prevent such loops which drop prematurelyfrom the revolving hook from being caught by said hook. This guard I usein addition to the ordinary friction pad or brush already applied to theWheeler & \Vilson machine, and made to bear on the circumference of thehook for the purpose of preventing the loops dropping off prematurelyfrom said hook.

The guard and friction brush are shown particularly in Figs. 8 and 9.

In the place usually occupied by the ordinary feed-mechanism, which isnot required in my machinery, I introduce the chain-stitch mechanism, adetached view of which is shown in Fig. 5. This mechanism consists of aslide,

71/, to which a f1l0tlOl1-10ll6l,l7, is secured, and a spring, j,presses this roller up against the r face of a cam, N. (See Fig. 3.) Tothe slide it is secured the hook 70, which is intended to catch the loopof the needle-thread and to hold it open until the needle on itssubsequent descent passes again through the same. The shank of the hookis pivoted to the slide h,

- and a spring, Z, which acts on said shank, has

a tendency to force the hook back in the direction of the arrow markednear it in Fig. 5. 2 As the slide is made to move in the direction ofthe arrow marked near it in said figure, the hook 70 catches the loop ofthe needle-thread, and as soon as the hook has passed the needle a nose,m, projecting from the shank of the hook, by coming in contact with theedge of the groove in which the slide moves, causes said hook to moveagainst the action of the spring Z, and to take up its position righthe- .y hind the needle, thus keeping the loop of the needle-thread inthe proper position to allow the needle to pass through it on itssubsequent descent.

While the chain-stitch mechanism is being used I remove thebobbin-holder from the revolving hook and attach the protector n whichis shown in Figs. 6 and 7. This protector is PTOXidBd with a cap, 0 tocatch over the point of the revolving hook and prevent the same frominterfering with the loops of the needle-thread. Said protector is heldin position by a set-screw, p, which is tapped into the end of thedriving-shaft, and which is shown in position in Fig. 30f the drawings.The cam N, which imparts the requisite motion to the slide h, is mountedon the driving-shaft, and its working-face is on its outside, so thatsaid slide can be forced back against the action of the spring j, and ifit is held in that position the chain-stitch mechanism is thrown out ofgear. For the purpose of retaining the slide h when the same is forcedback, a stop-lever, q, is pivoted to the under surface of the clothplateB, and by turning this lever so that it catches behind the shoulder 'rof the slide it said slide is held back and the chain-stitch mechanismis thrown out of gear.

By using the needle-feed I am enabled to apply the chain-stitchmechanism in a convenient position under the cloth-plate, where it canbe readily thrown in or out of gear and t where it is not in the way ofany other part of the sewing mechanism.

With the sewing mechanism as above described I have combined a guide, Nor N*, which is to be used particularly in quilting or in making aseries of parallel seams, either rectilinear or curved. For rectilinearseams I use the guide N, (see Figs. 10 and 10%,) and for curved seamsthe guide Nt (See Figs. 11 and 12.) The guide N consists of a fiat pieceof sheet metal with a curved rounded edge, and secured to an L-shapedshank, 0", which is fastened by a set-screw,

s, in the socket t, which is secured to the presser foot F, as seen inFigs. 1 and 3. The guide consists of a wheel with a rounded edge andmounted on the end of a V-shaped shank, r In using either of theseguides their edges are made to travel in the seam already made, and bytheir action the material to be sewed is guided in the directionindicated by the seam, so that each succeeding seam will be parallel tothat first made. These guides are particularly valuable for such worksecuring the lining of coats or for quilting in general, and they savemuch time and labor generally required in marking out said seams.

For curved seams the guide N cannot be used, and in this case therevolving guide must be substituted. It must be remarked that theseguides are only applicable for machines with the needle-feed; at leastthey do not work accurately when used in combination with ordinary feedmechanisms. By the use of these guides I am enabled to produce a seriesof parallel seams, either curved or rectilinear, without previouslymarking off said seams and with little loss of time or attention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- l. Thearrangement of a friction-spring, in combination with the vibratingneedle-arm, constructed and operating substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. The arrangement with said spring of a set-screw or other equivalentfastening, in combination with the vibrating needle-arm, constructed andoperating substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The arrangement of a lip, 8, extending from the needle-holder on theback of the needle, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The guard g, applied to the top edge of the bobbin-holder M,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The friction-brush c, or its equivalent, in combination with thebobbin K and bobbinholder M, constructed and operating substantially asand for the purpose described.

6. In combination with a Wheeler 85 Wilson sewing-machine, when suchmachine is so constructed that the needle is made to feed the material,the devices herein shown, or their equivalents, for producing achain-stitch.

7. The protector n, in combination with the revolving hook I andchain-stitch mechanism, constructed and operating substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

8. The side-surface cam N. in combination with the chain-stitch slide h,spring j, and stop-lever q, constructed and operating substantially asand for the purpose described.

ALBIN \VARTH.

Witnesses:

M. M. LIVINGSTON, W. HAUFF.

